Saturday, August 30, 2008

While at Education Week, one of our favorite places to eat in Provo is Tucano's. It is a Brazilian Grill Restaurant and is so fun! They have skewers that they grill over an open flame and then bring the skewer to your table and carve for you right there. You have little tongs that you grab on to the meat with. There is also a little wood gadget on your table with one end painted red and one end painted green. If you want the servers to keep coming, you keep your green end up. When you are taking a breath (and unbuttoning your pants) put your right end up. (See next picture!) I think our red end was up only once! That's because I have a SIL that can pack it away! (Hugs to Montana!)

Cute waiter huh?

Some of the things that they bring to you are BBQ chicken, top sirloin, marinated tri-tip, brown sugar pork, bacon wrapped something that I can't remember, tenderloin (my fav!), grilled pineapple, grilled veggies and even chicken hearts. (My kids didn't believe me that they had those!)

Enjoying the food!

(See...our green end is UP!!)

I told my daughter to get a picture of the grill which you can kind of see in the background but whan I can see the most is the backside of the cute waiters that are there. Yeah....this daughter is single!!

Good family, good food, good times. Life doesn't get any gooder than this! Yeah, I know that's not a word but I like it!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

My coolishness factor is dropping at an alarming rate. When I go blog stalking I see blogs that are so cool. Their pictures are so cool. Their posts are SO COOL. I visited Beeswax's blog and you should see how cool she looks in her cool jeans. She's having a giveaway for a free cool Coach (nastily rumored as a knock-off) purse. I'm hoping that I win. That will make me look so much cooler. I need some coolish help.

A while back, my daughters told me that I had 80's hair and that I needed a haircut makeover so that I could look like a mom in the 2000 decade. See what I mean?

When did this happen? When did my coolioness disappear? Did it slowly evaporate when I wasn't looking? Or did I wake up one morning only to find that because I had neglected my coolishness that it cruelly disappeared?

Is it too late for me? Am I doomed to be uncool for the rest of my middle-aged years? Is there any hope? Who is the coolest person that you know? Wait...I don't have the time to read who would be on the top ten list of the most coolest people....I have to go cut my hair

Sunday, August 24, 2008

I was SO in need of a vacation. I was SO in need that I didn't even leave a little note on my blog like other obsessive/compulsive , courteous bloggers do to let you know that they won't be posting for a while. So I've been on a blogbatical.

On Thursday, August 14th at precisely 4:30 and one second, my daughter (who had met me at work) and I charged skipped down the hallway of my office and made a beeline to my car.

Within minutes, we were speeding leisurely entering the 15 fwy headed north to Provo. I've made this drive so many times that I could do it in my sleep. With car on auto pilot, off we went. No sooner than we were ON the freeway, we got OFF in Barstow to get a Tommy's Burger.

Are there things that you do when you are on vacation that are kind of tradition? You have to do them every time you go somewhere? That's Tommy's Burger for this daughter and I. Another one is to get a pink frosted Grandma's cookie when I am in Utah. I've done it for so long now, that all of my family members will not let me leave the state until I get one. (I have GOT to stop posting about cookies!! Resurrect Fudgees from your memory)

Although I had things to do in Provo, like moving this daughter into her apartment and getting her settled, I was also going to attend Education Week, which I did and will post about it later. BUT my biggest goal was to find a pool. All I wanted to do was to lay by a pool, with a cool drink in my hand and try to imagine myself on a tropical beach. All I needed was one day. ONE DAY to relax by a pool and read "Breaking Dawn". I didn't know anyone with a pool but I do have a nephew who works at a hotel and I was going ask him if I could sneak enter the pool area of that hotel. Well, with TWO daughters now in Provo, other things took precedent and I never found that pool with my name on it.

Back to our drive. Young single adults can't go for a very long time without loud music some tunes, so after we engulfed ate our Tommy Burgers, on came on the music. Luckily she chose the Beatles. Pretty soon we were yelling singing at the top of our lungs to "Hey Jude". Nah, nah, nah, nah-nah-nah-nah, nah-nah-nah-nah, HEY JUDE!!! After which we would break into peals of laughter. Road trips are the best, and I am at my best when I am with my kids.

That pool with my name on it will have to wait for another day on another vacation. This past week was great and I'll post some pictures soon along with some treasures and nuggets that I learned at Education Week. For now, I am home, unpacking, doing laundry and oh....and I quite forgot....I need to go turn my CD player on. Nah, nah, nah, nah-nah-nah-nah, Hey Jude!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

"The home is the laboratory of our lives and what we learn there largely determines what we do when we leave there. " President Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, November 1988I remember hearing a talk by a sister who supported this statement by Pres. Monson. She specifically spoke about the importance of the things that hang in our children's rooms. She had two sons. In one room, she hung planes, pictures of planes and plane wallpaper. In her second sons room, she put up boats. Nowhere to be found was a picture of the Savior, a picture of temple or any kind of religious picture. Her first son turned out to be a pilot and her second son joined the Navy. Neither stayed active within the church. Her sons saw boats and planes in their rooms every day of their lives. How could that NOT affect them she now tells people.As my children have left the nest and are now spreading their wings, I have thought about this statement from Pres. Monson. What are my children doing in their lives that they learned in the laboratory of our home? There have certainly been "experiments" that have exploded in our faces and things that obviously didn't work. We learned by trial and error until we found a "theory" that rang true and then we implemented.

Here are my feelings as to some of the things that our children learned in the laboratory of our home:1. First and foremost, a love of the gospel.2. Our house was the house to hang out at. We had parties, game nights and when there was a day when there wasn't seminary we would have breakfast parties for our non-member friends and make pancakes, waffles and their personal favorite - scones! We never get together with Grandma and Grandpa without playing games. We are game playing fools!! This has definitely been carried on in the life of my oldest daughter. Her bachelor's degree is in Recreational Therapy and Youth Leadership. The book that she wrote that will be out in December is about games that you can play that will strengthen your family. She is just about to get a job at a facility for troubled teens (I just KNOW you will!) as a Recreational Therapist where she will direct activities and then process as to how these teens can apply the lessons learned into their lives. I would say that this part of our home life largely determined her future career.3. My youngest daughter is studying Cultural Anthropology. Growing up she and I had a special love of nature shows, wildlife shows, Discovery Channel, National Geographic and one of our favorites Man vs. Wild. We loved to see the different countries, their cultures, their legends and wildlife that was indigenous to that area. Hubby traveled quite often and on the nights that he was gone, I would let this daughter stay up late with me to watch National Geographic. My polynesian princess daughter is half Tongan and my DH and I have felt that it was very important for her to be raised knowing her culture. She has taken hula for many years and is an accomplished dancer. She now wants to study the social culture of societies and travel the world. This love of nature and people has definitely determined her course of study.4. My son is probably the hardest to determine at this moment in time. The thing that stands out foremost in my mind probably has to do with service. As a family, we tried to take advantage of any and all opportunities that we could to serve others. Memories include adopting families at christmas, yardwork, snow shoveling, free babysitting, dinners, etc. How grateful we are that our son chose to serve the Lord by serving a mission. We shall see what he will take from our home when it comes time to decide on a career.Sometimes we as the mad scientists (parents!) look upon our children as lumps of clay that we must mold into what we want them to become. I like to look at them more as seeds and that is our job to nourish and nurture and help them become what they are meant to become.What do you hope your children will take from the laboratory of your home?

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Do ya'll get this magazine? If not, it's pretty worth the $10.00 for the ten issues that you will receive. I LIVED by this magazine when my kids were younger. It has the greatest ideas for crafts, fun foods, places to go etc., to use with your family. Even though my youngest "kid" is 19 now, I still subscribe to this magazine. Why you might ask? Years ago I read this article about a grandmother who every summer holds "Grandma's Camp" for her grandchildren. Her grandkids come for a week every summer. Throughout the year, she clips ideas for games, crafts and food to do with her grandkids. She organizes the activities into "booths" and the grandkids go from booth to booth doing or making whatever activity or craft is at that booth.

So even though I don't have any grandkids yet, I continue to get this magazine and clip ideas for my future "Grandma's Camp"! I have some of the FUNNEST STUFF! I have the instructions on how to make a sprinkler jungle gym out of PVC pipe that squirts water everywhere. I can't wait!

One of the cutest ideas that I got from this magazine years ago was for a fish card game. You were supposed to take pictures of all of your family members and get double prints so you had two of everyone. Then you were to laminate them all and play a game of fish with them! It was supposed to help your younger kids to remember all of their family members. "Do you have a Grandma Thompson?" No...go fish! "Do you have a cousin Kaitlynn?" Yes!!

I actually took all the pictures of my kids bazillion cousins and aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas but never got them laminated. We did play with the actual pictures a few times and it was so fun!

I can always use more ideas for my Grandma's Camp though. What are some of the favorite things that YOUR kids like to do?

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

My youngest daughter is home from BYUI for two weeks, after which we are on our way to Utah to move her to Provo and attend Education Week. As always, when my kids come home, I always like to spoil them by buying their favorite foods while they are here. So on my way out the door to go grocery shopping, I asked this daughter if there was anything that I could get her. Her reply? "Mom...get some Fudgees!!"

Fudgees? What in the sam hill are Fudgees? "Mom...you've never had Fudgees?" No. Then you really need to get some!

Positive that we didn't have these things in California and that they were probably a hictown Rexburg thing, I was on a Fudgee quest. (no nasty emails regarding Rexburg, we really love it there!)

Surprisingly, I found them right away. After being home for like.......2 milliseconds....I ripped open the bag.

And then I prepared to taste these morsels called Fudgees. OMG! These are so good....I am in big trouble. B.I.G. T.R.O.U.B.L.E. These are the kind of things that are considered "mommy treats" and you hide them from your children and put them into the recesses of your cupboards where only you know where they are. Except when your children are older they will tell you that they knew where your stash was the whole time!

So I tell my daughter that I am so....SO...in trouble because these are so yummy and she says....."Mom, They are even BETTER dunked in milk!"

Monday, August 4, 2008

Thought I would share two of my favorite websites and see what are your favorites? The first is FlyLady.This is a great and fun website to help organize and clean your home. If you are suffering from CHAOS, which stands for (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome!) because your house is a mess, this is the site for you! She starts you off with baby steps and sends emails instructing you what to clean. For example, you might get an email telling you to take 15 minutes right now and clean out a bathroom drawer. And it helps so much to just DO IT right then! You feel SO FREE! You feel so LIBERATED! Because now you have a CLEANBATHROOM DRAWER!! Wahoo!!! You will receive general emails and also emails focusing on a certain part of your house every week. It is so helpful to have someone TELLING you do it..or at least it does me!! If anyone tries it, let me know if you like it. She has a great sense of humor which makes cleaning fun.

The other site is Dotti's Weight Loss Zone. For those of us trying to watch our weight, she lists tons and tons of restaurants and the calories/fat/carbs and sometimes weight watcher points for the food that is on their menus. The rest of her site is pretty good but I think the restaurant info is the best.

Now what are two of your all time fav websites? The only rule about this is that they can't already be a website that is on the sidebar of your blog.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

So, it's been over a week since I have had a chance to post and blog surf. I feel like I have been missing in action and actually suffering withdrawals from not being able to stalk my favorite people! But today I have some time to sit here and as "Red" puts it, caress my fingers over my keyboard! Ahhh...it feels good!

Anyway, to fill in the gaps, yesterday hubby and I went to the X Games! It seems like when we knew that the kids were going to be leaving last summer that we talked about how we would be so free to do things and lately we have been sitting home every weekend. So I surprised DH and bought tickets and we went. We had a blast! The best part was just being together, but the day was beautiful, we saw some way cool motocross freestyle jump tricks...it's amazing that these guys can get their motorcycle so high in the air and do flips and actually let go of their bikes upside down and are able to land smoothly! It was incredible!

In the picture on the left, there is actually a motorcycle rider in the air and upside down but you have to look really hard to see him. Look for two little tires underneath the bleacher roof kinda to the left.

We also saw some skating events but were more interested in the motorcycles. Today when DH was teaching Sunday School, he mentioned where he was yesterday and his kids were SO jealous!! They thought he was so cool....!!

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There is so much more to life than worrying about doing your dishes!! Hug your hubby, play in the mud with your children, watch a sunrise, do something significant for someone else, take a bubble bath. Go ahead! You have permission from me...the professional kitchen ditcher!